When did our economic salvation become all about mining?

Like the mining exploration in Happy Valley that threatens not only the now famous large native Patrickensis land snail and also the Great Spotted Kiwi, the seemingly minute attack on a delicately balanced eco-system stood for so much more than just protecting a handful of molluscs. The Happy Valley protest sought to draw the line a little bit bolder between what big business can and can't do with enough money and political clout. Now as my less than favourite government of the decade attempts to innocently ask the question 'can we mine where no one could mine before', it seems the line may be fading again before our very eyes.

For those of you on either side of the fence (or line) who don't know the ins and outs of this document, here is the summary from the Department of Conservation: "Schedule 4 was added to the Crown Minerals Act in 1997 restricting exploration and mining activities in specified public conservation land administered by the Minister of Conservation.

"Some land listed within Schedule 4 is thought to contain minerals of value that could contribute significantly to New Zealand’s economy. The Government is now seeking public input about whether some of these areas should be removed from Schedule 4. Some land is also being considered for addition to Schedule 4."

'That's all very well and good' you may be thinking (although I hope you've sniffed out the rat and are running off to complete your own submission), but Gerry Brownlee would like set a dangerous precedent for the future our land and other far more renewable ventures run by New Zealanders.

Fast forward to the week before last, and besides a little tut-tutting over my Sunday paper and the occasional scowl at the nightly news I hadn't really done much more that talk about this issue. That was until my partner and I took our three-month-old son to his first peaceful march up Queen Street to oppose the discussion document. Between 40,000 and 50,000 people took to the streets, in what Brownlee described as an emotive response to the issue. Bloody too right it was emotive. As emotive as your neighbor popping his head over fence to 'discuss' whether he could run a tunnel under your house and fill your pool with cyanide tainted run-off because it would really help out his American cousin, and just to be fair he would even cut you in for 3% to 4% of the action. Who wouldn't get emotional?!

While Brownlee and the thinly veiled mining lobby groups seem to be going on and on about how mining is the best way to bring money into New Zealand, no one seems to be discussing how much money we send out of the country.

I sat the other night watching Lucy Lawless have it out with Brownlee on Campbell Live. The Minister did his usual play of greed, stating that mining was the only way to bring lots of money to New Zealand. Then I switched over to Close Up on TV One who were running a story about the train builders in Dunedin. Given a fraction of the support that the international mining companies seem to be receiving from this government, this company could build the electric trains being purchased for Auckland. That alone would keep $220 million in New Zealand, all the while creating a new commercial enterprise capable of tendering for other train builds from around the world. To me, that seems like a better direction than digging holes in the ground.

Another argument for mining this protected region is that after the 'credit crunch' we need to access these resources and the small percentage of mining earnings that will stay in the country to get us out of the slump. Great for next year but what about the future market crashes of 2022 or 2030? Because we all know this cycle will repeat itself time and time again with the free market model - and limited resources such as minerals can't bail us out forever.

Our tourism, on the other hand, is renewable and profitable for New Zealand businesses. It employs 105,000 people and earns $8.1 billion every year (Statistics New Zealand, 2005, Tourism Satellite Accounts), significantly more than our most vocal earner, the dairy industry at $5.7 billion. As the east coast of North America suffocates in oil and the islands of the Pacific continue to disappear under the ocean (even if people can't agree on why it's happening, it's happening) New Zealand's 100% pure image will become an even more precious asset.

James Crow is the Auckland-based entrepreneur behind Pot of Gold skin balm and After Ink tattoo aftercare. He blogs about life as a startup entrepreneur each week for Unlimited

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